Secretarial telephone answering systems and secretarial telephone stations are old and well known. These systems and stations are connected to a switching system or private automatic branch exchange (PABX) having directed call pickup and call transfer features. Typically these systems included a complex secretarial telephone station connected directly to the PABX. In addition, each individual subscriber telephone station, which is to receive secretarial answering service, is also connected to the secretarial station. With such an arrangement a large and unwieldy cable comprising the line pairs for each such subscriber station are connected to the secretarial station. This arrangement involves heavy cabling cost both for installation and maintenance. Also, if the location of the secretarial station is to be changed, extensive recabling is required.
An alternative arrangement for providing the secretarial answering service, requires the secretary to identify which telephone is ringing by listening to the ringing signal from the called subscriber station. The secretary then dials the telephone number of the ringing subscriber station in the directed call pickup mode in order to intercept the incoming call. Once the call has been screened by the secretary the number of the called telephone station must again be dialed from the secretarial station in the call transfer mode. This is a cumbersome and lengthy procedure and is difficult to implement when several calls must be intercepted and transferred at approximately the same time.